The Abu Dhabi Global Market Financial Services Regulatory Authority has granted its financial services license for cryptocurrency firm Rain to offer brokerage and custody services to residents.

In a July 25 announcement, Rain he said regulatory approval will allow certain UAE-based institutional and retail users to “buy, sell, trade and hold virtual assets” through the platform. According to Rain CEO Joseph Dallago, the business firm has too partnership with a local bank to facilitate services, under “local regulatory oversight and a thorough legal framework” to protect users.

“This is a 5-year effort as we were one of the first exchanges to inquire about licensing in 2018 when ADGM launched its virtual asset framework,” said Dallago.

Rain Trading Limited (Rain ADGM) has received the first Financial Services Permit (FSP) from the Abu Dhabi Global Market Financial Services Regulatory Authority to operate a virtual asset brokerage and custody service. pic.twitter.com/EyxCj4HbNy

— Rain (@rain) July 25, 2023

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In November 2022, the Binance crypto exchange received similar regulatory approval in Abu Dhabi after being granted in principle approval from the financial supervision in April. Green came amid a major crypto market crash and the collapse of several major firms including FTX. CEO Changpeng Zhao was attending the Abu Dhabi Financial Week at the time of the approval.

Based in Bahrain, the platform focuses primarily on offering crypto services in the Middle East and Turkey, according to Rain’s website. Although the Abu Dhabi Global Market Financial Services Regulatory Authority issued approval for both Rain and Binance, Dubai’s virtual asset regulatory authority issued notices to executives digital asset platform Open Exchange in May and BitOasis license suspended in July.

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